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Neither December 25 nor January 7, but June 17 is Jesus Christ's real birthday, says an Australian astronomer who used a computer software and St. Matthew's Gospel as a reference point to calculate the new date.

The astronomer's research coincides with Quranic verses on the Messiah, which suggest that Mary gave birth to Jesus during the summer season.

Reneke's reference point, Mathew's gospel, coincides with Quranic references to the birth of Jesus Christ as both texts place the event in the summer season.

While Mathew's gospel placed the nativity at somewhere between 3 B.C. and 1 A.D, allowing Reneke to locate the planetary movement to an accurate date in 2 B.C., the Quran notes that Mary went into labor during the summer time as she was instructed by the Angel to eat dates, a summer fruit, from a nearby tree after giving birth to Jesus.

The most revealing recent book on the subject of the Moro race or the Tausug, and the Sulu Sultanate. It takes the readers through the entire period: from the early Muslim travelers who broght Islam to the region, to the Spanish Conquistador, to Marco's era, to the Philippine’s claim on Sabah today.

The reader is taken on an intriguing path of discovery - on the little known as second heir to the Sulu Sultanate, and in a nutshell, a proposed solution to the 'Moro problem'. You will find this book special and very different.

From a rag-tag band of guerrillas in the 1980S, the Hizbullah have become a near-professional army capable of resisting the Israelis on several fronts for prolonged periods.

But they are far more than simply a military force. They are also a popular political movement in Lebanon, capable of transcending the country’s fractured communal politics, and the main providers of education and welfare services to Lebanon’s poorest people.

It is not only for their military strength that they are massively popular with Arab and Muslim peoples everywhere – and regarded with fear by Israel, the West and Arab governments alike.

This volume brings together essays and features on what is perhaps the most successful non-government social, political and military movement in the world today.

Since I was making my weekly (expensive!) pilgrimage to Kino anyway that afternoon, I decided to check out the status of the book, and discovered, yes, that the KDN (Home Ministry) officials had make their rounds and confiscated all the copies of the book, telling the bookshop that they were going to investigate it further and that in the meantime the store was not allowed to sell copies of the book.

Today I learned that this ban applies to all Farish's books which the store is not allowed to bring in until further notice (although there are still copies of the Malay translation of Di Balik Malaysia published by ZI Publications still on the shelves).

Two Faces records Syed Husin Ali's experiences during his six-year detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA). His detention followed a spate of demonstrations in 1974 by students who supported the peasants in Baling, Kedah (Malaysia), and protested against poverty and the rise in prices of daily necessities.

Toward the end of the second year of his detention at Kamunting (located at Perak state), he was put in solitary confinement for six months in an unknown place in Kuala Lumpur. During this time he was interrogated and subjected to all kinds of torture and harassment.

There was an attempt to implicate him with a number of politicians and journalists who were then detained for alleged involvement in a "communist conspiracy" in Singapore and Malaysia. Interestingly, there were also attempts to implicate some senior UMNO leaders, including Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

Two Faces links some personal experiences of the author with the social and political context of the time. (Source: Kinibooks at Malaysiakini)

DAP supremo and veteran politician Lim Kit Siang was clearly upset with the suggestion that he had ‘sold out’ his party policies in a “secret pact” jointly signed by top Pakatan Rakyat leaders, reports Malaysiakini.

"He said it was “mischievous” of The Star editor-in-chief Wong Chun Wai to infer that DAP was being opportunistic and had in a “dishonest act of political expediency” inked the document to uphold Malay rights and status of Islam."

The book is Winning Strategies of Anwar Ibrahim. This book is an objective analysis of the strategies and meticulous planning employed by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim which enabled the opposition to win five states and 82 parliamentary constituencies at the recent 12th general elections, thereby denying the ruling Barisan Nasional its two thirds majority in parliament.

It is said that the author focuses on the details of the strategies planned by Anwar Ibrahim months before the general elections and how he successfully implemented them. (Source: KiniBooks)

It took me three hours to read Jasmines on the 4th Floor. It’s a love story by Maclean Patrick published by Alaf 21 Sdn. Bhd, between a Chinese lady and an Ibanese man. Happy ending love affairs, but this novel has an element of surprise.

A good first book by the author. A lot to be improved, though.

Synopsis

Jasmine finds solace in her world of flowers on her 4th floor apartment. She dreams of the day she would leave the apartment for Singapore. But all her plans are sidelined the day she meets the mysterious Remy.

Remy is on the run from himself. Desperately trying to find meaning in his life, he hides in the flat complex called Rifle Range (located at Penang). There he befriends Jasmine and immediately takes interest in her. Jasmine, the happy-go-lucky girl is the answer to his problems.

It is a friendship that helps both of them cope with their tortured past and their need to love and be loved. Ultimately Remy’s secret threatens their blossoming love and hopes of a life together.

Could the strengths of their friendship and love overcome the secret that Remy hides?

When Hilman met his daughter Jeslina in New York, after years of separation, they were both happy beyond compare. However, their happiness were short-lived when they were involved in road accident.

Jeslina went into coma while Hilman was accused of drunk driving. In that chaotic situation, Mia Sara, an officer from Malaysian Embassy in Washington D.C, appeared. With her help, Hilman was advised to appear in court.

But, when Hilman found out about a conspiracy to hide the real cause of accident, he decided to seek justice on his own.

As a sharpshooter in the Malaysian Royal Police, survival was his playground. His investigation on the conspiracy, finally, led him to the White House!

I still reading Rising SunbyMichael Crichton by the time this entry published. I’ve been the follower of all Michael Crichton’s fictions and enjoy every single of it. Then I realize that this novel has been filmed, sometimes in 1993. I’ll try to look for the film, if still available.

I already read Timeline, The Terminal Man, State of Fear and Andromeda Strain.

Synopsis from publisher

During the grand opening celebration of the new American headquarters of an immense Japanese conglomerate, the dead body of a beautiful woman is found. The investigation begins, and immediately becomes a headlong chase through a twisting maze of industrial intrigue and a violent business battle that takes no prisoners.

Comment by Publishers Weekly

A young American model is murdered in the corporate boardroom of Los Angeles's NakomotoTower on the new skyscraper's gala opening night. Murdered, that is, unless she was strangled while enjoying sadomasochistic sex that went too far.

Nakomoto, a Japanese electronics giant, tries to hush up the embarrassing incident, setting in motion a murder investigation that serves Crichton ( Jurassic Park ) as the platform for a clever, tough-talking harangue on the dangers of Japanese economic competition and influence-peddling in the U.S.

Divorced LAPD lieutenant Peter Smith, who has custody of his two-year-old daughter, and hard-boiled detective John Connor, who says things like ``For a Japanese, consistent behavior is not possible,'' pursue the killer in a winding plot involving Japan's attempt to gain control of the U.S. computer industry.

Although Crichton's didactic aims are often at cross-purposes with his storytelling, his entertaining, well-researched thriller cannot be easily dismissed as Japan-bashing because it raises important questions about that country's adversarial trade strategy and our inadequate response to it. He also provides a fascinating perspective on how he thinks the Japanese view Americans--as illiterate, childish, lazy people obsessed with TV, violence and aggressive litigation.

Alaf 21 Sdn Bhd, a Malay publisher, is moving forward by publishing English fictions. The company has new line up for English novels, namely Jasmines on the 4th Floor, Far Away and After the Rain. Prior to this, they already published Norzailina Nordin’s novel, Zuriat, to English version titled Genetics Peril.

For the info, several years ago, Alaf 21 has taken a bold and brave move to publish English fiction books for children. At that time the publisher has three titles in the market; House on Bukit Kenanga, House Of Horror and Mystery Of The Old Mansion all by Zamir Zakwan.

The latest is Personal Justice, an English version of A.D.A.M by the famous local thriller author, Ramlee Awang Murshid.

I personally congratulate both the publisher and author for a very good and rare initiative from local Malay publishing industry. I can’t wait to read all the books, albeit my busy schedule with catering.

"I just hope that it is not marketed as an "extensively researched" historical novel about the Lady Aishah, because whatever research Jones did, she certainly does not appear to have used it or benefitted from it. The Jewel of Medina is fiction in the purest sense of the term, with little or nothing of history in it.

I also hope that readers will take it for what it is: an attempt by a Western writer with little knowledge of Arabic, Arabia, Islam, and Muslims using her own Western, 21st century values, ideals and emotions to portray an unrecognizable version of the well-known and well-documented story of Aishah.

If Jones had set out to tell the "untold" or an "alternative" story of the heroism and courage of Aishah, she could have saved herself the trouble. The Lady Aishah has already been seen as a heroine and revered as a role model by Muslim women since the beginning of Muslim history." (Marwa Elnaggar, a writer, a poet, and a consultant to ReadingIslam.com)

Jones is wrong about Aishah, as stated by Marwa Elnagger:

“There's something not quite right about seeing a citation for One Thousand and One Nights in a bibliography for a novel about the Lady Aishah, Prophet Muhammad's famous wife.

What it says about an author who would, in writing about the early Muslim community, use the collection of stories that has given us Aladdin, Ali Baba (he of the forty thieves), Sinbad the sailor, and the wife-killing yet story-loving king, Shahrayar, is a lot that makes any discerning reader uncomfortable.” Full article here.

The first Neal Stephenson’s novel I read is cryptonomicon, followed by the Zodiac. Both are good and interesting. I have few others from him, but all are in to-read category. The latest from him isAnathem. I will get it, soon.

Neal Stephenson stands firmly in the ranks of the greatest science-fiction writers, but his career continues to defy that easy label. The distant realms in his books range from the far future to the distant past, but many of the themes he presents are common to all his books.

In Stephenson's world, information is power, and individuals with enough brains, foresight and firepower to use it can ride its transformational might like a surfer on a wave. Of course, they can also get smashed in the surf or dragged back to sea by contrary, restraining forces.

Stephenson's newest novel, Anathem, is no exception to this worldview. The book's cast—a mix of monks, mechanics, spacemen and theologian politicians­—holds its own in the canon of Stephenson's works.

From the publisher

Fraa Erasmas is a young avout living in the Concent of Saunt Edhar, a sanctuary for mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers, protected from the corrupting influences of the outside "saecular" world by ancient stone, honored traditions, and complex rituals. Over the centuries, cities and governments have risen and fallen beyond the concent's walls. Three times during history's darkest epochs violence born of superstition and ignorance has invaded and devastated the cloistered mathic community. Yet the avout have always managed to adapt in the wake of catastrophe, becoming out of necessity even more austere and less dependent on technology and material things. And Erasmas has no fear of the outside—the Extramuros—for the last of the terrible times was long, long ago.

Now, in celebration of the week-long, once-in-a-decade rite of Apert, the fraas and suurs prepare to venture beyond the concent's gates—at the same time opening them wide to welcome the curious "extras" in. During his first Apert as a fraa, Erasmas eagerly anticipates reconnecting with the landmarks and family he hasn't seen since he was "collected." But before the week is out, both the existence he abandoned and the one he embraced will stand poised on the brink of cataclysmic change.

Powerful unforeseen forces jeopardize the peaceful stability of mathic life and the established ennui of the Extramuros—a threat that only an unsteady alliance of saecular and avout can oppose—as, one by one, Erasmas and his colleagues, teachers, and friends are summoned forth from the safety of the concent in hopes of warding off global disaster. Suddenly burdened with a staggering responsibility, Erasmas finds himself a major player in a drama that will determine the future of his world—as he sets out on an extraordinary odyssey that will carry him to the most dangerous, inhospitable corners of the planet . . . and beyond.

Sherry Jones knew it would be hard to get her first novel published. Getting "The Jewel of Medina" into bookstores was even harder. "I wrote the book with the utmost respect for Islam," author Sherry Jones says of "Jewel of Medina."

After overcoming the formidable hurdles any new author faces, Jones was overjoyed to sell the book to Random House. Then Random House canceled its publication at the last minute for fear the historical novel about Aisha, child bride of the prophet Muhammad, would incite riots in the Muslim world.

"I had hoped to find an independent publisher with gumption and verve that would treat me as a partner in the publishing process," said Jones, a longtime newspaper reporter in Montana who moved to Spokane, Washington about a year ago.

She got the idea for the book after the terrorist acts of September 11. Determined to learn more about Islam, she read books on the religion and came across the story of Aisha, who became Muhammad's third wife as well as a leading scholar and warrior in the early days of the religion.

Aisha was 9 when she became Muhammad's wife. She's often described as Muhammad's favorite wife, and it was in her company that Muhammad received the most revelations. During a period of war after Muhammad's death, Aisha raised an army which confronted her rival Ali outside the city of Basra.

Aisha's forces were defeated, and she was captured and returned to Medina. There, she became one of the top scholars of Islam's early age, with some historians crediting her with one-quarter of Islamic religious law. She died at 65.

"I became obsessed with thoughts of Aisha," Jones said.

Jones, who describes herself as spiritual but not part of an organized religion, figured her book would help build bridges between the cultures.

Random House, the nation's largest publisher, liked the idea enough to give her a $100,000 advance for "The Jewel of Medina" and a sequel, which Jones has also written.

"It was a dream come true," said the 46-year-old Jones, who spent five years and seven drafts on the first book.

She was not naive. She knew an American woman writing a novel about Muhammad and Aisha would spark some controversy. But she expected her good intentions would be obvious.

"Anyone who reads the book will not be offended," Jones said. "I wrote the book with the utmost respect for Islam."

A copy of the novel was sent to Denise Spellberg, an author and Islam expert at the University of Texas, seeking a cover blurb.

Spellberg called the novel a "declaration of war" and "a national security issue" that might incite violence. She also called the book "soft-core pornography," referring to a scene involving Muhammad consummating his marriage to Aisha. (Spellberg did not return telephone calls and e-mail from The Associated Press.)

Jones was shocked and angered.

"Her characterization of my book as pornography created a self-fulfilling prophecy," Jones said. "I don't know why she used the most inflammatory rhetoric to describe my book."

Random House, worried about the response, decided in May to cancel the publication, although the news was not released to the general public until August when the publisher issued a statement saying that "credible and unrelated sources" had warned that the book "could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment."

That story drew a response from author Salman Rushdie, who criticized his publisher for pulling the novel. Rushdie, whose "The Satanic Verses" led to a death decree in 1989 from Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and forced the author for years to live under police protection, said Random House had allowed itself to be intimidated.

"I was impressed," Jones said of Rushdie's comment.

Random House drew other criticism. The Langum Charitable Trust, which awards lucrative literary prizes, said the company was too easily intimidated. "Random House has exhibited a degree of cowardly self-censorship that seriously threatens the American public's access to the free marketplace of ideas," the trust said.

Jones was devastated by the cancellation. She and her agent negotiated an agreement with Random House so the book could be marketed to other U.S. publishers.

Last week, Beaufort Books bought it.

"Everyone at Beaufort is proud to be associated with this groundbreaking novel." company President Eric Kampmann said.

Earlier, Gibson Square agreed to publish the book in England. Not publishing the book "would truly mean that the clock has been turned back to the dark ages," Gibson Square publisher Martin Rynja said.

Jones has received some harsh e-mail and has taken down her Web site, but said she has received no direct threats.

Ironically, some critics complained she was being too positive about Muhammad and Islam.

"People see what they want to see," she said.

Jones was an Air Force brat who lived in many places growing up. She spent 20 years in Montana, which she considers home, graduating from the University of Montana's creative writing program. She moved to Spokane about a year ago.

She has become something of a celebrity. This week she left for Norway, where she will be the featured speaker on the freedom of speech panel at the Norwegian Foundation for Investigative Journalism conference in Lillehammer.

But she didn't set out to be a free speech crusader. Rather, she wanted to write about women's empowerment, peace and hope, Jones said. She's kicking around the idea of writing her next book about Lady Godiva, the Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who rode naked through the streets of Coventry to protest the high taxes imposed by her husband on his tenants.

Beaufort Books, the independent American publisher that picked up OJ Simpson's fictional murder confessional If I Did It, is courting controversy again with the acquisition of North American rights in Sherry Jones's The Jewel of Medina, a reimagined version of the love story between Muhammad and his favourite wife Aisha.

The book was originally lined up to be published by Random House US, but was dropped after the publisher was warned by security experts and academics that it could be offensive to the Muslim community, and risked inciting violence from extremists. Denise Spellberg, an associate professor of Islamic history at the University of Texas, described it as "a very ugly, stupid piece of work" in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, saying it turned a sacred history into "softcore pornography".

Beaufort Books will publish The Jewel of Medina in October this year. The book's UK publisher Gibson Square Books - which also published OJ Simpson's quasi-memoir - has also lined up an October publication date. If I Did It, Simpson's hypothetical account of the murders of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman, was originally lined up to be published by HarperCollins in 2006 but was cancelled and pulped after public outrage.

Jones said she had hoped to find an independent publisher with "gumption and verve", that "wouldn't be spooked by controversy, recognising it as a stimulus for discussion of my book's themes of women's empowerment, peace, and hope". She said she felt that Beaufort was the "perfect home" for her novel given its "track record of support for free speech and expression".

In a statement, Beaufort president Eric Kampmann said: "We are building a great team to bring The Jewel of Medina to the audience it deserves to have. Everyone at Beaufort is proud to be associated with this ground-breaking novel." Beaufort will publish Jones's sequel next year.

Jones's agent Natasha Kern has also sold rights in the novel to Spain, Hungary, Italy, Russia, Serbia, Macedonia, Brazil and Germany. Following its publication in Serbia by BeoBook in August, it was withdrawn from bookshops after protests from an Islamic pressure group. (Source: guardian.co.uk)

So as you dove into this history, what was it that captured your attention and eventually brought you to the idea of writing a book that focused on Aisha?

Sherry Jones: It was the strength of the women that I was reading about – the intelligence, the courage, the participation of women in the early life of the Islamic community. Aisha’s sense of humor drew me to her right away. One of my favorite scenes is when Muhammad, who was angsting over whether he could marry Zaynab bint Jahsh, he said to Aisha, “Allah has given me permission to marry her.” And Aisha said, “My! Allah certainly hastens to do your bidding.” What a great comeback, and what a woman of verve. She was just so quick witted.

Also, her scholarly abilities... I had read that she could recite a thousand poems, and she knew all the recitations, all the Quran. She was a political advisor, not only to Muhammad, but to some of Muhammad’s successors. Her whole involvement in the political life of her community just fascinates me.

Web Sutera’s note: I don’t have any comment on this interview. Read it and open your mind and heart.

It ranks second in global natural gas reserves and has substantial oil reserves with plenty of growth potential in both energy sectors. This guarantees that the Islamic Republic will play a key long-term role in the world's increasingly important energy equation.

TheUnited Stateshas also been engaged in talks withTehranover how to stabiliseIraq- an acknowledgment thatIrancould hold the key to regional security. What doesIran's growing influence mean for its neighbours? Send your opinion toAljazeera.net.

My opinion is, yesIranwill be a major world’s power, with its Islamic root. That’s why United States(especiallyGeorge Bush) uses every effort and power at their disposal to restrain Iranfrom being a nuclear power with Iran’s nuclear program. For George Bush, only AmericaandIsraelwill have the right to own nuclear weapons. Such an arrogant head!

On June 21, 2008the Iranian envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltaniehas reported by Voice of America (http://voanews.com) says, “Iran's envoy to the United Nations nuclear agency says Iran is continuing with its nuclear program despite a multination offer of an incentives package if Tehran stops atomic activity." He says “the Islamic Republic will continue its nuclear enrichment program, reiterating the country's claim that it is for peaceful purposes.”

An Egyptian female author has spoken out in defense of her controversial new book, Love and Sex in the Prophet's Life, which caused outrage after it was circulated at the Cairo International Book Fair last month [WS: January 2008].

"I wanted to explain sex from the real Islamic perspective and to make it the reference for having a healthy sexual life," writer Passant Rashad said in a statement to AlArabiya.net.

"When I mentioned the prophet I meant to demonstrate how his relationship with his wives was the perfect example of a healthy sexual life that is devoid of the complications Arabs try to impose on it these days."

But the book has drawn sharp criticism. Independent Egyptian MP Mustafa al-Gindi complained to the Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosny, earlier this month [WS: February 2008] saying the book insults the Prophet and his wives, especially his third wife Aisha.

"The book contains parts about positions and orgasms, which is totally inappropriate for a book that had the prophet's name in its title," said Gindi.

A religious TV channel in Egypt denounced the publication and hosted a series of sheikhs – Islamic leaders – who accused her of apostasy and called for her killing, even if she were to repent.

Meanwhile, Islamic thinker Gamal al-Banna called for an end to the fatwas on writers.

"This is a backward way to understand Islam. We have to eliminate this torrent of fatwas through reasoning and refutation of these lies. It is only then that those bloodshed Sheiks will find no audience."

He called upon Arab information ministers to ban televised fatwas that wreak havoc in society and make intellectuals live in constant fear.

"I kept silent, hoping this campaign will end or those sheiks will contact me to discuss the book, but none of that happened. Now I fear for my life," Rashad told AlArabiya.net.

In the aftermath of the fatwa, Rashad said that a bearded man came to her house on Thursday and threatened her.

"He banged on the door at two in the morning and asked my husband if I was the author whose bloodshed is sanctioned. He told him that many problems are coming my way, then left."

Rashad said she is not an apostate and would never insult the prophet. On the contrary, she said she aimed to refute the myths propagated by the enemies of Islam, who portray the prophet as obsessed with women.

A right-wing American weekly newspaper will distribute free copies of a book that insults Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and associates Islam with terrorism, Washington-based news agency America in Arabic reported.

The neo-conservative, Republican-oriented Human Events newspaper will distribute Robert Spencer's The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World's Most Intolerant Religion (2006), America in Arabic said.

The book -- regularly priced at 30 dollars -- is released by Regnery, which has published a string of controversial neo-con books and is a division of Eagle Publishing, which owns Human Events.

Well-known British writer Karen Armstrong, author of Muhammad: A Prophet of Our Time, has said that the book is "written in hatred," contains "basic and bad mistakes of fact" and that the author "deliberately manipulates the evidence".

The newspaper says Spencer unravels facts not known to historians. The book claims that Muhammad said terrorism made him victorious and that he used to tempt people with paradise so they would crush his enemies.

The author also accuses Muhammad of treason, breaching the Treaty of Hudaybiya with the Meccan tribe of Quraish, and instigating Muslims to kill Jews.

Spencer, the director of the Jihad Watch and Dhimmi Watch websites, also claims that the prophet encouraged Muslim men to take women captive to control them.

Ultra conservative attorney Ann Coulter, who writes a column in the newspaper, is taking part in the campaign to promote the book.

Coulter is famous for her controversial statement about Arabs and Muslims, especially after 9/11 when she said Americans should invade Arab countries.

"We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren't punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That's war. And this is war," she wrote in the conservative website National Review Online.

Coulter also angered Jews in the United States when she said they should convert to Christianity to reach perfection. (AlArabiya.net)